JoAnna Lynne Garcia Swisher (then only JoAnna Lynne Garcia) was born August 10, 1979. Born and raised in Tampa, Florida, to a Cuban father and American mother, Garcia was raised in a bilingual household. Her father is a physician and founder of “Medizone,” and her mother is a former teacher and now a homemaker.

With the support of her close knit family, she began performing at the age of 10, when she auditioned for the local theater production of “How to Eat Like a Child,” and landed the lead role. Garcia caught the acting bug immediately, and while school was always a top priority, she continued to fuel her passion by acting in local plays until high school. When she was discovered by Nickelodeon in a local play, the network immediately fell in love with Garcia, and she commuted from Florida to Montreal to star as Fiona in the television series “Clarissa Explains It All” in 1992. She also starred as Samantha in “Are You Afraid of the Dark?” from 1994 to 1996.

In 1998, Garcia was cast in a recurring role on the acclaimed drama series “Party of Five,” playing Claudia’s (Lacy Chabert) friend Hallie at boarding school. After graduating from high school, Garcia briefly attended the University of Florida before heading to Los Angeles to further her career in acting. Almost immediately upon arrival, she landed a key role opposite John Ritter in the television movie “Holy Joe” as Joyce Cass, in a story about an Episcopalian priest (Ritter) who experiences a crisis of faith until a life-altering event makes him believe he witnessed a miracle. She also had a memorable recurring role in 2000 on “Freaks and Geeks,” playing Vicky Appleby, the popular freshman cheerleader who spent “seven minutes in heaven” with the ultimate geek, Bill (Martin Starr).

On the big screen, Garcia starred in the two hit teen comedies in 2001: “American Pie 2″ and “Not Another Teen Movie.” In “American Pie 2″ Garcia played Christy, the date of the infamous Stifler (Sean William Scott), with whom she shares one of the film’s most memorable scenes. From there, she then went on to the comedy spoof “Not Another Teen Movie,” playing a high school cheerleader afflicted with Tourette’s Syndrome.

Garcia dazzled audiences for six years on “Reba” as Reba’s teenage daughter Cheyenne Montgomery, a role which earned her a Teen Choice Award nomination for “Breakout Star.”

She also appeared in the ABC Family original movie The Initiation of Sarah, which premiered in October 2006. In 2008, she had a role in A Very Merry Daughter of the Bride, playing Roxanne. She had a leading role in the ABC Family TV movie Revenge of the Bridesmaids.

In 2009, García had a recurring role on The CW drama Gossip Girl playing the role of Bree Buckley, an irreverent evil Miss America-type who is politically progressive, but hails from a conservative Southern family. She appeared in four episodes in season three. In December 2009, she guest starred as Maggie, Ted Mosby’s college buddy on How I Met Your Mother. She also starred in the ABC sitcom Better with You in 2010 – 211. The show centers on two sisters who were at different points in their romantic relationships: one was unmarried and in a long-term relationship and the other (García) got married after getting pregnant from a one-night stand. It was canceled on May 13, 2011.

Garcia guest-starred on The Penguins of Madagascar in the episode “The Officer X Factor/Love Hurts”, which aired on February 12, 2011. In 2012, Garcia appeared in four episodes of the USA Network dramedy Royal Pains as a nephrologist treating Jack O’Malley (Tom Cavanagh). In 2013, during season three of the series Once Upon a Time she began playing the recurring role of the Ariel from the The Little Mermaid. She then made a re-appearance in one episode of the fourth season.

This busy actress was so inspired by working at the Step Up Women’s Network (a national network of women dedicated to strengthening community resources for women and girls) that she hopes to launch her own empowerment organization for women called “We Reach” because, as she explains, “Girls aren’t nice enough to each other.” Garcia is striving to assemble an advisory board of women in the entertainment industry who will work with girls around the country to host charity events in their hometowns.

Animals are a vital part of Garcia’s life, and she owns 13 animals all together. When she’s not working, she spends time with her four horses, six dogs, two prized chickens and one goat. Her favorite horse is Dolly, a miniature seven-month-old horse that only weighs 60 pounds. Garcia’s other interests include country music, traveling, and fashion.

When she’s not busy filming new projects, JoAnna volunteers as a teacher for children who are learning English as a second language. She is involved with the organization Make the Commitment, whose purpose is to raise awareness about cervical cancer.[ She has an organization called We Reach, a charity which has assembled an advisory board in the entertainment industry to help young girls around the country organize charity events in their hometowns. The charity also has the goal of empowering young women.

In 2008, García became engaged to Trace Ayala, co-founder of clothing company William Rast with his childhood friend Justin Timberlake. (Ayala was Timberlake’s former personal assistant.) In August 2009, People magazine reported that García was dating baseball player Nick Swisher. They became engaged in May 2010, and married on December 11, 2010 at the Breakers Hotel & Resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Bridesmaids for García included friends and fellow actresses Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Melissa Peterman, and Reba McEntire. Since her marriage, she has been credited as Joanna García Swisher. The couple have a daughter, Emerson Jay, born May 21, 2013 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Mid-2015, JoAnna and her family moved to Atlanta city in the U.S. state of Georgia with her family, because her husband switched baseball team from Cleveland Indians to Atlanta Braves.

In 2015, Garcia was cast as Betty Grissom on the American period drama “The Astronaut Wives Club” television series developed by Stephanie Savage for ABC. It is based on Lily Koppel’s book of the same name. The series tells the story of the wives of the Mercury Seven—America’s first group of astronauts. Dominique McElligott, Yvonne Strahovski, Joanna García Swisher, Erin Cummings, Azure Parsons, Zoe Boyle, and Odette Annable play the leading roles of wives. The show was originally scheduled to be broadcast during the 2013–14 American television season, but got pushed back. On February 5, 2014, it was officially ordered straight-to-series with a 10-episode pickup. It was expected to premiere on July 24, 2014, but was pushed to spring 2015 to undergo changes. It premiered on June 18, 2015.

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Welcome to JoAnna Garcia Online, an exclusive and in-depth fansite for the talented actress JoAnna Garcia. We are currently the one and only source for JoAnna online, and we've been providing fans with all the latest since 2015.

JoAnna is known for her roles in projects such as "Reba", "Once Upon a Time" and "Revenge of the Bridesmaids", and can currently be seen in the comedy film "Fist Fight". She will also reprise her role as Ariel in the Series Finale of "Once Upon a Time".

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